UK Universal Credit Calculator

About the UK Universal Credit Calculator

Estimate your Universal Credit for a month in England, Scotland or Wales, worked out the way the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) does it. The calculator adds the standard allowance for your age and whether you claim as a couple, an amount for every child (a higher one for an eldest child born before 6 April 2017), the disabled child amounts, the health amount (LCWRA) at the higher or the lower rate, the carer amount, 85% of childcare costs up to the limits, and housing costs — the rent up to the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rate for private renters, with DWP’s monthly LHA rates for every area built in. Then it takes off 55p for every £1 of take-home pay above the work allowance, other income in full and the tariff income from savings, and applies the benefit cap.

Every amount is DWP’s own monthly rate, and the breakdown shows each one with the working. Without a pass, the free preview shows the estimate a month in full, with the rules that apply and the first rows of the breakdown; a Pro pass unlocks every figure, the summary and the CSV. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.

Common uses

• Checking what Universal Credit you could get before you claim, or after a change such as a new baby, a move or a new job.
• Seeing how much more you keep when you work more hours, with the work allowance and the 55% taper.
• Finding out whether your rent is above the LHA rate for your area, and by how much.
• Checking whether the benefit cap could reduce your payment, and what would lift it.

The amounts a month

• Standard allowance: £338.58 single under 25, £424.90 single 25 or over, £528.34 for a couple both under 25, £666.97 for a couple when at least one of you is 25 or over.
• Children: £303.94 for each child, with no limit on the number of children; £351.88 for an eldest child born before 6 April 2017 (Universal Credit if you have children). A child counts until the 31 August after their 16th birthday, or until the 31 August after their 19th birthday while in full-time non-advanced education or approved training.
• Disabled child: £164.79 (lower amount, any other rate of DLA for children or PIP) or £514.71 (higher amount: the top DLA care rate, the higher PIP daily living rate, or a severely sight impaired or blind child).
• Health condition (LCWRA): £429.80 at the higher rate, £217.26 at the lower rate; LCW £158.76, only for claims that started before 3 April 2017.
• Carer: £209.34 for caring at least 35 hours a week for someone who gets a qualifying disability benefit.
• Childcare: 85% of what you pay, up to £1,071.09 for one child or £1,836.16 for two or more.

These are DWP’s rates for the current year (what you’ll get; benefit and pension rates).

The two LCWRA rates

The health amount (for “limited capability for work and work-related activity”) has a higher and a lower rate (health conditions and Universal Credit). You get the higher rate if you told DWP about your condition before 6 April 2026, you have had LCWRA (or the support group of income-related ESA) since before then, you have a severe, lifelong condition (it means you cannot work, will last your whole life, will not get better and is diagnosed by a health professional) or you are nearing the end of life. Other conditions reported from 6 April 2026 get the lower rate.

A couple gets one health amount, at the higher rate if either of you qualifies. Someone who has LCWRA cannot also get the carer amount, but their partner can. LCW without work-related activity brings no amount for newer claims, but it still gives you a work allowance.

Housing costs

• Private renters get the lower of the rent and the Local Housing Allowance rate for the bedrooms the household needs in their area (renting from a private landlord). The calculator holds DWP’s monthly LHA rates for Universal Credit for every Broad Rental Market Area of England, Scotland and Wales (LHA rates). Single people under 35 usually get the shared accommodation rate, unless an exception applies (for example a care leaver under 25, or someone who gets the daily living part of PIP).
• The size rules: a bedroom for you (and your partner), for each other adult of 16 or over, for two children under 16 of the same sex, for two children under 10 whatever their sex, and for any other child; one more for an overnight carer, and for a couple or a child who cannot share because of a disability or medical condition.
• Council and housing association tenants get their rent and eligible service charges, 14% less for one spare bedroom and 25% less for two or more (guide for landlords).
• Housing cost contributions: £96.55 a month comes off a renter’s housing amount for each adult of 21 or over living with you, except when they or you are in a group GOV.UK lists (Pension Credit, Carer’s Allowance, PIP daily living, a child under 5, a lodger …).
• Rent paid weekly becomes a month as weekly rent × 52 ÷ 12 (every 2 weeks × 26 ÷ 12, every 4 weeks × 13 ÷ 12).

Earnings, other income and savings

If you have a child or a health condition that limits your work, you can earn a work allowance before your Universal Credit goes down: £427 a month when your award includes housing costs, £710 when it does not. Above it, Universal Credit goes down by 55p for every £1 of take-home pay — pay after Income Tax, National Insurance and pension contributions (how your wages affect your payments). Without a child or a health condition there is no work allowance.

Other income such as New Style JSA or ESA, Carer’s Allowance, Maternity Allowance or a pension comes off in full; Child Benefit does not (it counts only towards the benefit cap). Savings and investments above £6,000 count as £4.35 a month for each £250 (or part of £250) up to £16,000; with more than £16,000 you cannot get Universal Credit.

The benefit cap

The total of certain benefits is capped at £1,835 a month for a couple or a single parent and £1,229.42 for a single adult, or £2,110.25 and £1,413.92 in Greater London (benefit cap amounts). The capped total is Universal Credit without the childcare costs, after the deductions, plus Child Benefit and other capped benefits; Universal Credit comes down by the amount over the cap (how DWP works it out).

The cap does not apply if you or your partner get LCWRA or the carer amount, if you earn £881 or more a month between you after tax and National Insurance, if someone in the household gets PIP, DLA, Attendance Allowance, Carer’s Allowance, their Scottish equivalents (Adult or Child Disability Payment, Carer Support Payment) or another benefit GOV.UK lists (when you’re not affected), or during the 9-month grace period after your earnings fell (Universal Credit and the cap).

Official sources

• GOV.UK: Universal Credit, what you’ll get and DWP: benefit and pension rates
• GOV.UK: what you could get if you have a health condition or disability and Universal Credit if you have children
• GOV.UK: how your wages affect your payments
• GOV.UK: renting from a private landlord, DWP: Universal Credit LHA rates and Universal Credit and rented housing
• GOV.UK: benefit cap amounts, when you’re not affected and DWP: benefit cap methodology
• The Universal Credit Regulations 2013

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Limitations

• An estimate for England, Scotland and Wales: DWP works out the real amount every assessment period from your circumstances and what your employer reports. Northern Ireland has its own rules and help.
• Transitional protection for people moved from older benefits, and deductions for advances, overpayments or debts, are not included.
• Self-employed people may be treated as earning at least the minimum income floor (an assumed level based on what an employed person on the minimum wage would earn), unless they are in a 12-month start-up period; the calculator uses the profit you enter.
• Some situations are not covered: supported or temporary accommodation, two homes, rent-free weeks, students, people over State Pension age claiming alone, and people from abroad.
• The LHA category is worked out from what you enter; DWP decides your bedrooms from your circumstances, including some exceptions not covered here.

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